NEW Discussion Paper – The Transition from Aid

We are delighted to share our latest discussion paper, The Transition from Aid.

The ‘Transition from Aid’ is part of THET’s Discussion Paper series, which address challenges within an ever-changing development landscape.

They are designed to stimulate discussion within ourorganisation, the broader development community, and the wider policy environment.

In the paper we make the case that the need for UK engagement in MICs remains pressing, with commercial opportunities growing as economies do, but with aid still vital in some contexts.

In particular, we argue that the UK’s healthcare sector should be seen as a vital component of this revised approach to aid as the economies of MICs continue to grow. The NHS is widely regarded as the UK’s most treasured institution, and yet its potential as a driver of development and commercial exchange between the UK and other countries is under developed.

In the context of Brexit, and the UK’s desire to remain an outward-looking country open to partnerships and new ideas, the principles underpinning the NHS also make it an attractive partner for many MICs as they seek to extend equitable Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for their populations. As such, we believe the NHS should be viewed as a great potential ‘export’ for the UK commercial community (UK plc), in much the same way as our strengths in Higher Education.

The paper is primarily intended to stimulate discussion but we also make a number of specific recommendations which we believe have the power to maximise soft power gains, establish the UK as a leader in global workforce development and increase the commercial success of the NHS and wider UK healthcare ecosystem internationally.